Pride Event in Okemos

Okemos held a Pride event this past weekend. Not sure why it isn’t in June, but nice that things get spread out a bit. Apparently it was the first one.

There was a pop-up library which I though was ultra-cool, since libraries are now on the front line in some of these culture wars. Also there was a proud dog contest. The dog that had the most rainbow scarves on, I’m guessing. They were all cute. There was a bubble machine and a DJ emceeing dance tunes. A couple kids were break dancing like crazy.

Overall, it was a family event. Waaaaay smaller than anything in Chicago and—of course—no gun shots or shootings!

Speaking of Pride: 2 of the folks from Story Studio Novel in a Year class that I participated in in 2021 have LGBT+ YA novels out. James Klise who teaches the class has an interesting totally Chicago book that just released about Chicago in 1930s gangster times. The dialogue and euphemisms are SWELL. There are (so far, not quite done) tense moments in the story, but mostly I’m finding it fun. Klise did a lot of research into the lingo and Chicago of the 30s. Another fellow classmate Maxine Rae just came out with Cold Girls.

Eighteen-year-old Rory Quinn-Morelli doesn’t want to die; she wants refuge from reality for even a minute: the reality where she survived the car crash eight months ago, and her best friend, Liv, didn’t. Yet her exasperating mother won’t believe the Xanax incident was an accident, and her therapist is making it increasingly hard to maintain the detached, impenetrable “cold girl” façade she adopted from Liv. After she unintentionally reconnects with Liv’s parents, Rory must decide: will she keep Liv’s and her secrets inside, or will she finally allow herself to break? And if she breaks, what will she unearth amid the pieces?

 

Excited for both of these cool dedicated writers!